Aino Aalto facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Aino Aalto
Born	Aino Maria Mandelin 25 January 1894 Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died	13 January 1949(1949-01-13) (aged 54) Helsinki, Finland
Nationality	Finnish
Other names	אלטו, איינו Aino Marsio Aalto, Aino Aalto, Aino Maria Marsio-Aalto
Alma mater	Helsingin Suomalainen Tyttökoulu Helsinki University of Technology
Occupation	Architect, designer
Spouse(s)	Alvar Aalto (m. 1925–49; her death)
Children	2
Practice	co-founder of Artek

Aino Maria Marsio-Aalto (born Aino Maria Mandelin; 25 January 1894 – 13 January 1949) was a Finnish architect and a leader in Scandinavian design. She is famous for helping to start the design company Artek. Aino also worked on many of Artek's most popular designs.

As Artek's first artistic director, she designed many things. These included fabrics, lights, glass items, and buildings. It is known that Aino finished the first project for Artek. This was the Viipuri Library in 1935. Her work is part of the MoMA's (Museum of Modern Art) permanent collection. MoMA has shown her work in nine exhibitions.

Aino Aalto's Life Story

Aino Mandelin was born in Helsinki, Finland. Her family lived in a co-operative apartment building. There, she met master carpenters and joiners. She later learned from them.

Aino finished school in 1913 at the Helsingin Suomalainen Tyttökoulu. She started studying architecture that same year. This was at the Institute of Technology in Helsinki. She became a qualified architect in 1920. Aino graduated with other female architects, like Salme Setälä. She also met her future husband, Alvar Aalto, when they were students.

In 1920, she worked for an architect in Helsinki. In 1923, she moved to Jyväskylä to work for Gunnar Achilles Wahlroos. The next year, she joined Alvar Aalto's office. Aino married Alvar Aalto in 1925. They spent their honeymoon in northern Italy. Many young architects from Scandinavia traveled to Italy. They studied the local building styles. This greatly influenced Scandinavian architecture in the 1920s. This style was called Nordic Classicism.

The Aaltos moved their office to Turku in 1927. They began working with architect Erik Bryggman. The office moved again to Helsinki in 1933. The Aaltos designed and built a home and office for themselves. This was in Munkkiniemi, a Helsinki suburb, from 1935 to 1936. Later, in 1954–55, they built a separate office nearby.

Her Own Designs

Aino Aalto's exact role in many of Alvar Aalto's architectural designs is not fully known. Their first buildings were often small. These were mostly summer houses in the Nordic Classicism style. Aino's first project fully credited to her was Villa Flora (1926). This was the Aaltos' holiday home in western Finland. It showed the simple, efficient style of modernism. It also reflected the simple life of rural Finland.

Aino was not fully in favor of all modernism's ideas. She designed homes to be comfortable and practical. She used materials and furnishings to make warm spaces. This was quite unique in 20th-century modernism.

It is known that she focused more on interior design. An example is the Villa Mairea in Noormarkku (1937–39). She also designed furniture, like for the Paimio Sanatorium (1927–29).

Founding Artek

In 1935, the Aaltos, along with Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahlin, started Artek. This company sold lights and furniture designed by the Aaltos. Aino was Artek's main designer. She later became the managing director. Artek still makes Aalto furniture today.

In Artek's early years, Aino created and improved many furniture designs. Out of hundreds of designs, only a few were by Alvar Aalto. She also managed projects for interiors, lighting, screens, and other home items. Under Aino's leadership, Artek completed over eighty interior designs.

Aino was a very skilled designer even before Artek started. Her series of pressed glass objects won a prize in Milan in 1936. In the early years of their marriage, Aino and Alvar often entered architecture competitions with their own separate designs. In the mid-1920s, the Aaltos were the first Finnish architects to use the pure Functionalist style. This style came from central Europe.

In Aino Aalto's own work, this can be seen in her design for the Finnish pavilion. This was for the 1939 New York World's Fair. However, Alvar Aalto won first prize for his design. Aino's work was often compared to her husband's. She often saw Alvar get credit for projects they worked on together.

Aino Aalto also designed several glass items for the Finnish company Iittala. This company made household goods. Her most famous glass design is still sold today. Similar copies are made by companies like IKEA. Aino's "Bölgeblick" design inspired a line of dinnerware by Iittala. She also worked with her husband on the famous Savoy Vase in 1936.

Aalto worked actively at the Artek office until 1949. She passed away from cancer that year. Aino set the style for Artek's creative and business approach. This approach is still used today.

In 2004, an exhibition and book were created at the Alvar Aalto Museum. This showed Aino Aalto's life's work.

Where Her Work Was Shown

• 2021 Design for Modern Life MoMA, NY, USA
• 2018 Modern Couples - Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde Barbican Art Gallery London, United Kingdom
• 2017 Aino Aalto stars in the Children’s Scale exhibition Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyväskylä, Finland
• 2016/2017 How Should We Live? Propositions for the Modern InteriorMoMA, NY, USA
• 2014 Nordic Art and Vintage Design Galerie Christian Roellin, St. Gallen, Switzerland
• 2013-2014 Designing Modern Women 1890–1990MoMA, NY, USA
• 2009 INTO THE WOODS: An Exploration of itala Chelsea space London, United Kingdom
• 2006 Art & Technology. Moments in Artek history Alvar Aalto Museum Jyväskylä, Finland
• 2006 Artist’s Choice: Herzog & de Meuron, Perception Restrained MoMA, NY, USA
• 2004 Humble Masterpieces MoMA, NY, USA
• 2004 Solo Exhibition at Alvar Aalto Museum Jyväskylä, Finland

Images for kids

• 

  Glass vase designed by Aino Aalto.

See also

In Spanish: Aino Aalto para niños